Pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia

Plaintiffs Jason Bennett, Philip Charvat, Scott Dolemba, Michael and Janet Hodgin, and Diana Mey filed this nationwide class action lawsuit against Monitronics International, alleging the security alarm monitoring company violated that TCPA when it, or a third party on its behalf, placed autodialed or prerecorded calls to plaintiffs’ residential or cell phones without their prior consent or permission, as well as to numbers listed on the national Do Not Call Registry. Over 30 similar class action lawsuits were consolidated into multidistrict litigation in December 2013.

Specifically the plaintiffs claim that some of Monitronics Authorized Dealers used illegal telemarketing practices to sell monitoring contracts on behalf of Monitronics, Under the TCPA, automated or prerecorded calls to residential or cell phones without the holder’s prior consent is illegal. The TCPA also prohibits telemarketing calls to phone numbers registered on the national Do Not Call Registry. Court documents indicate that 7,858, 232 telephone numbers were called on behalf of Monitronics in violation of the TCPA.

In addition to paying settlement awards to Settlement Class Members, the $28 million settlement fund will be used to pay attorneys’ fees and court costs, incentive awards to each of the Class Representatives, and settlement administration costs..

Monitronics denies it made any telemarketing calls or did anything wrong but has agreed to pay $28 million to avoid further litigation.

Class members who wish to submit a claim must do so by Feb. 20, 2018.

Class members who wish to exclude themselves or opt out from the settlement must notify the Settlement Administrator in writing and postmarked no later than Feb. 20, 2018 (class members cannot submit an exclusion over the phone or via the monitronicstcpasettlement.com website).

Important Dates

2/20/18: Claim filing deadline

2/20/18: Opt out or exclusion deadline

2/20/18: Objection deadline

3/29/18: Settlement approval hearing at 11:00 a.m. ET (class members do not need to attend this hearing in order to receive a slice of the settlement pie

We received a check for $42.35(#250667), but my husband passed away before it arrived. I called the bank and was told to sign my husband’s name and put “DECEASED” below it. I did and then took it to the bank to deposit it, but the teller I gave it to, took it to the manager and she REFUSED to honor it because my husband had passed away! Can you reissue the check for him, since this check has the word DECEASED on it? I can return this check to you, if you need it. I don’t think you can issue the check to me because I wasn’t on that credit card account.